Virtual currency sales went up to $9.1 billion for this year, surpassing the $6.6 billion total 2017, according to data from financial technology provider Autonomous NEXT. However, monthly trend actually registered a slowdown.

Tech startups worldwide have raised funds by selling cryptocurrencies, which eliminats the need for third party intermediaries like banks and venture capital firms.

Autonomous NEXT reported the $9.1 figure adding that the total also incudes Telegram token sales offering and Block..one’s EOS currency.

Telegram, the messaging service founded by Pavel and Nikolai Durov in 2013, raised $1.8 billion for this year alone, whereas EOS was able to raise around $4 billion in a token sale.

If we were to exclude the sales from Telegram and EOS, Autonomous NEXT said the monthly figure would be lower at $560 million this year compared to $1.5 billion a month in December 2017.

Market researchers believe the EOS sale significantly skewed the numbers due to the method of accounting used. EOS raised that amount over a one-year sale period, compared to other token offerings.

“Unless you believe in the continued presence of mega deals, token offerings have indeed been dragging due to continued regulatory uncertainty, tax overhang, and a lack of tangible progress in software adoption by the mainstream consumer,” the report from Autonomous NEXT said.